David Dudgeon is Emeritus Professor of Ecology & Biodiversity at the University of Hong Kong, where he has spent over 40 years researching the ecology, biodiversity and conservation of the animals that inhabit the streams and rivers monsoonal Asia.  His work concerns food-web dynamics and energy flow in streams, and the broader issue of conservation of freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly-changing, human-dominated world.

Dudgeon is the author of over 200 papers in international journals, as well as books, book chapters, and other articles (see Publication List). He has supervised more than 40 research postgraduate students.  In 2000, Dudgeon was awarded the 10th Biwako Prize in Ecology in recognition of his contributions to freshwater ecology and conservation in Asia.  His most recent book, Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, was published in 2020 by Cambridge University Press. A book on the freshwater animals of tropical East Asia – published by Routledge – will be available in August 2022.

From 2015 to 2018, Dudgeon was Editor-in-Chief of Freshwater Biology.   He is a member of the editorial boards of Aquatic Conservation, Global Ecology and Conservation and Freshwater Biology, and was formerly associated with the editorial boards of Hydrobiologia, Aquatic Sciences, Inland Waters and Biotropica.  Dudgeon has served on the Freshwater Cross-cutting Network of DIVERSITAS, and sits on the Scientific Steering committee of the Global Water System Project (GWSP) and the Freshwater Working Group of GEO-BON, the Global Biodiversity Observation Network.  These organizations were all members of the Earth Systems Science Partnership, which was recently incorporated into the Future Earth research platform.  Dudgeon is a member of the recently established Alliance for Freshwater Life.

Dudgeon is an Executive Councilor and Trustee of WWF-Hong Kong and was a member of the Steering Committee that developed the Hong Kong Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan as part of the territory’s obligations under the international Convention on Biological Diversity.  He served for six years on the Town Planning Board of Hong Kong SAR Government, was Associate Dean (Research) of the HKU Science Faculty between 2010 and 2014, Director of the School of Biological Sciences from 2015 to 2018, and was University Mace Bearer from 2013 to 2018.

Freshwater Biodiversity: Status, Threats and Conservation

Published in 2020.

From the dust-jacket: Growing human populations and higher demands for water impose increasing impacts and stresses upon freshwater biodiversity. Their combined effects have made these animals more endangered than their terrestrial and marine counterparts. Overuse and contamination of water, overexploitation and overfishing, introduction of alien species, and alteration of natural flow regimes have led to a 'great thinning' and declines in abundance of freshwater animals, a 'great shrinking' in body size with reductions in large species, and a 'great mixing' whereby the spread of introduced species has tended to homogenize previously dissimilar communities in different parts of the world. Climate change and warming temperatures will alter global water availability, and exacerbate the other threat factors. What conservation action is needed to halt or reverse these trends, and preserve freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly changing world? This book offers the tools and approaches that can be deployed to help conserve freshwater biodiversity.

The book is available from Cambridge University Press; please click here to order.

Threatened Freshwater Animals of Tropical East Asia

Published in 2022.

This book offers a comprehensive account of the current state of inland waters in tropical and subtropical East Asia, exploring a series of case studies of freshwater fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and water bodies at particular risk.

The book highlights the rich freshwater biodiversity of tropical East Asia and draws attention to the various threats it faces due to human activities and rapid environmental change. It addresses the question of whether the contributions of these animals and habitats, or biodiversity in general, to ecosystem functioning and service provision provide sufficient basis for arguments supporting nature conservation. Drawing on instances from the rivers and lakes of tropical East Asia, the book also asks whether the benefits accruing from intact ecosystems are likely to be enough to ensure their preservation. If the answer to either or both these questions is ‘no’, then what are the prospects for freshwater biodiversity in rapidly changing tropical East Asia?

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of biodiversity, conservation, freshwater ecology, ecosystem services and Asian Studies.

The book is available from Routledge; please click here to order.